


seeking the sun

by thehaakun



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 03:44:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20147092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehaakun/pseuds/thehaakun
Summary: Ever since they’d retired to this little valley, found solace and peace among its gentle winds and quiet rustles, Edelgard would sometimes find Byleth wandering into the great fields that surrounded their home, green grass swaying gently in the breeze.---[F!Byleth/Edelgard] (Post-Ending/Spoilers) "How they spent those precious moments, none but the two of them will ever know."





	seeking the sun

**Author's Note:**

> ah, it's my first time writing Edelgard/Byleth !! I really love these two ;-; My personal byleth was a very quiet person but when she spoke her words carried a good deal of weight lol I imagine she can tease a little bit but most of the time I always picture her as a show don't tell kind of person LOL
> 
> I wanted to write them sometime in their future when they settled down together :') and they can be at peace and not WORRY ABOUT THINGS ... they can just be together ;-;

Like she had in the past few years, Edelgard finished reading the most recent reports of the Empire, all neatly written and organized in Hubert’s fine hand, and she set the papers aside at her desk, letting out a weary sigh.

Even after she’d found a successor to the throne -- who, by all accounts, was doing wonderfully -- there were still some matters that the newest emperor sought her advice on, and Edelgard was not one to deny advising the current leader to all of Fodlan. To do so, she’d send Hubert to and fro from her current countryside home back to the imperial capital; she trusted no one else to deliver her missives, and it brought her a good deal of comfort in seeing his friendly face every few weeks. 

Well, ‘friendly’ was an overstatement; though many years had passed and softened the edges around their old classmates and comrades, Hubert’s visage still looked carved out of shadowed marble, stiff and intimidating. He’d gotten a little gentler in personality though; no doubt Bernadetta’s and Dorothea’s doing, but even so.

Oftentimes Hubert would come with visitors as well. Dorothea, Petra, Caspar, Lindhardt, Ferdinand, Bernadetta -- all had come to visit her and Byleth at least once here in their little retirement cottage, far away from the reaches of the city, nestled in a valley between mountains, a pocket of peace away from the flow of time. Their friends always brought sweet gifts and brave tales or new stories, and those were times Edelgard liked most; as Emperor, she’d had to do much the same but always with an keen ear and a sharp eye, ever on the lookout for suspicion or opportunity or even both when they might arise. Politics, even among friends, was an ever constant game, and it felt nice to finally be able to relax and enjoy the presence of good company.

Standing up from the desk and wincing a little at the muted ache on her lower back -- she never enjoyed deskwork -- she departed her office, taking the familiar wooden steps downstairs. Here in the countryside, she’d preferred having a comfortable lodge; the sound of footsteps on stone brought her unwanted memories, and the comfortable creak of the floorboards made her nostalgic for the dorms back at Garreg Mach.

Checking the living room, kitchen, and library, she found no sign of her wife. Pursing her lips, Edelgard put a thoughtful hand to her chin and went to the front door, opening it to see the usual sight of Byleth standing in the green field, looking off towards the distant, blue horizon.

Ever since they’d retired to this little valley, found solace and peace among its gentle winds and quiet rustles, Edelgard would sometimes find Byleth wandering into the great fields that surrounded their home, green grass swaying gently in the breeze, the hems of her dress fluttering in the wind.

The first time, it’d sent a jolt of fear through Edelgard’s heart and she’d sprinted outside as fast as possible, whipping her axe out from where she’d placed it beside the door. Panting and panicked, Edelgard had met a startled Byleth with ‘Is there an enemy out there?! Is someone attacking us? Where’s the guard patrol--’ before Byleth had calmed her down by reassuring her that they were safe and fine.

No, she’d simply come out to...look.

To look at what?

At that, Byleth’s face went pensive, that same expression she’d had from all those years ago at Garreg Mach when Edelgard had asked her more pressing, more personal questions.

To look, is all she’d said.

At that answer, Edelgard had no response, and she’d stood by her wife and looked out into the distance too, where the distant horizon faded from bright hues of blue to deeper colors of the sunset.

Another time, Edelgard had come out to stand by Byleth’s side once more, and the two stood there for some time, nothing but the rustle of the wind and the chirp of birds in the distance as their only company. Edelgard had looked over to see Byleth pressing a hand to her heart, a mixture of emotions playing out across her face.

It’d taken a long time for Edelgard to learn how to read Byleth. It was always the minute details with her; the tiniest furrow of her brow, the smallest curve of her lips, the barest flicker of emotion in her eyes. She was stoic, as most people would say, but Edelgard had learned over time that Byleth felt a good deal and range of emotions -- how she expressed them, though, required finesse and understanding.

So at that moment, as the two of them stood there in the field and Edelgard looked up at Byleth’s face, she saw sadness, acceptance, regret.

Edelgard knew those feelings as well as she knew the grip of her sword, the weight of her bloodred armor.

At another time Edelgard had wandered outside to meet with Byleth once more, Byleth had reached out and held her hand. Again, always the smallest things with Byleth; fingers tentatively sliding between the other’s, shoulders brushing against each other, hesitant strokes of a cheek with a calloused hand. Neither of them had much experience with physical affection; they were learning, over time still, even now.

Swallowing, Edelgard held fast to Byleth’s hand too, and they stared out at the sunset together.

One time, in early spring, Edelgard had walked outside to see Byleth sitting in the field, idly tugging at blades of grass as she stared into the distance. Edelgard had gone back inside, made them cups of tea, then headed back out and joined Byleth, silently handing her a cup of tea too as she sat down. The smallest smile on Byleth’s face then -- Edelgard remembered it very clearly, for it’d made her heart jump in her chest and her cheeks flush red.

But then with a sigh, Byleth touched her own heart once more, sadness crossing her face.

Sothis.

A long time ago, after the war had concluded and Edelgard and Byleth had found time to speak, Byleth had told Edelgard everything. Edelgard and Hubert had had their own suspicions, of course, but to hear Byleth definitively say that Sothis had been with her and saved her --  _ multiple times -- _ made for quite a tall tale.

Ever since that fateful final battle, Byleth had not heard a single word from Sothis.

Nor had she been able to...rewind the hands of time.

That’d been a revelation that neither she nor Hubert had expected to hear.  _ Undo time? _ But then Edelgard remembered the numerous times in battle that she’d see Byleth with that terrifying  _ haunted _ look, the one that made Edelgard understand why mercenaries and warriors alike had called Byleth a  _ demon. _

Hubert had asked the question Edelgard had been too afraid to ask. How many times had Byleth used Sothis’ Divine Pulse?

Byleth looked away. She didn’t answer the question.

Raising a hand, Edelgard dissuaded Hubert from pressing further. She knew well enough now Byleth’s unspoken answer. However many times she, Hubert, the others -- only Sothis knew just how many times Byleth had seen them all die, and only Sothis knew how many times Byleth had used her divine power to save them.

Back in the green fields of their country home, Byleth had said in her soft voice...she’d missed Sothis.

A part of her had been freed, in a way. But a part of her had been lost, too.

It was then that Byleth told Edelgard what Sothis had been like. How spiteful and childish she’d been, how she’d snap and get exasperated and roll her eyes when Byleth did something stupid. That’d been one of the few times Edelgard had seen Byleth blush; just the faintest pink on her cheeks, but Byleth had admitted she’d used Divine Pulse when having tea with Edelgard.

Now  _ that _ kind of news caught her by surprise. Why use a godlike power to have  _ tea? _

Byleth squirmed underneath Edelgard’s exasperated gaze, and she’d said it’d been because she’d wanted Edelgard to like her. She’d said something wrong or stupid, and apparently Edelgard had reacted uninterested so Byleth had used her power to rewind time.

Sothis had chewed her out for that, apparently. At that, Byleth fondly smiled at the memory.

Despite Sothis’ childlike appearance, she’d been benevolent and kind and wise, too. Numerous times Sothis had saved her life, had guided her and advised her even on the battlefield.

Byleth continued to describe Sothis, how she’d liked it when Byleth went strolling around Garreg Mach because then she got to feel the crisp morning air of the mountains, hear the sounds of the monastery coming to life from its nighttime slumber, eat a warm and hearty breakfast at the dining hall. Without a tangible body, Sothis had convinced Byleth to do a few things in her stead.

Back then, Edelgard remembered being confused and a little unnerved when she’d seen Byleth gesturing and talking to air. At the time she’d passed it off as Byleth’s peculiar and weird personality, but looking back...it’d been her talking with Sothis, laying in the grass to look at the sky, swimming in the pond during the summer, standing at the ramparts to feel the wind across her face.

So now, here, in this green field with its sweet and timid winds and gentle and soft sounds of nature, Byleth found her own little pocket of solace and peace, a reminder of the one unseen loss that had never been acknowledged or known by anyone else.

Ever since then, Edelgard had let her wife have her moments alone in the field. If it made Byleth feel comforted to be just a little closer to the divine goddess, then so be it.

In the present, Edelgard leaned against the doorframe of their home, watching her wife for just a little longer.

Then she pushed herself forward, takings steps across the grass before she stood at her wife’s side, sliding her hand next to hers.

They looked out to the horizon together.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!
> 
> they also have so much angst potential I'd love to write LOL maybe someday ;-; i'd love to write more of them though!! they're really nice to write ;-; edit also 100% wrote this w/out fact checking LOL i hoPE I DIDNT MISS LORE OR SPELL ANYTHING WRONG also i’ve only done BE route and am a little into GD route then it’s pain train with BL route lol


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